Raiders: Should Bo Jackson be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
Why he is not in
Unfortunately, the Pro Football Hall of Fame will always value longevity. It is understandable why this is the case as the iron man careers of stars like Tom Brady and Brett Favre are remarkable feats. It also allows them to place highly in significant counting stats. For Jackson, his four-year NFL career is not enough to display how dominant he was.
His 2,782 career rushing yards are over 1,100 less than current Buccanneers running back Leonard Fournette. While no one would say Fournette is a better player than Jackson, he very likely has a better NFL resume and he will never come close to Canton. In addition, he has just one Pro Bowl selection. Other than that, he finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting. That’s all he has on his resume.
This is the problem with evaluating a career of Jackson. A larger-than-life player who was capable of magical things on the field, you truly have to see it to believe it. When watching him play, it is abundantly clear that you are watching a special athlete worthy of the Hall of Fame. Alas, his resume on paper is nowhere near that of NFL legends.
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And how could it be? After all, Darren McFadden didn’t play professional baseball so of course he has better numbers than Jackson but the NFL does not care about potential. Yes, Jackson very likely would have been enshrined in Canton if it weren’t for a fluke injury that ended his career. Instead, sports fans are left to wonder what could have been for one of mankind’s greatest athletes.